Sealed in Blood
by catgirl234
Summary: Creature fic. Five years after the war, Harry became a vampire. Many in the wizarding world are still prejudiced. Draco Malfoy's eventual return to Britain coincides with increased reports of newborns. HP/DM. RW/HG on the side. Rated M since I still don't know how many of the later chapters are going to pan out. Warning: Mpreg
1. September 2003

**AN: Many of the characters of this story belong to the ever lovely Jo. The plot and other vampires you meet later, I can claim credit for.**

September, 2003.

Since the war had ended, Harry had been spending every free moment continuing the purge of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place and restoring it to a home of great prestige. Now, five years later, the entire house had been made hospitable and cheerful, a feat that many said couldn't be done. He had even been able to remove the awful portrait of Walburga Black. The only exception had been the attic. Thus far, Harry had avoided it as he figured that was where the Blacks had stored all of their heirlooms and more questionable possessions.

Now however, he was on leave from the auror office after his last case, Ginny was out of town for a while with the Harpies, and Ron and Hermione were on their honeymoon. With nothing better to do for the next week, Harry entered the attic and determined that if he couldn't finish clearing everything within the week, he would seal the door and leave it be. Harry sighed and started his methodical sweeping of the garbage in front of him, constantly alert for the feel of dark magic or traps that would likely permeate the room.

The first few days of cleaning were uneventful with nothing more serious than seventh year level hexes and curses that Harry disarmed or deflected easily. He had cleared more than half the room by this point and he could see the wall on the other side, when he realized that he was not the only one in the room. In the corner farthest from the door, stood a figure so surrounded by objects that it seemed to be trapped there without even room to sit down. Harry wouldn't have realized that the figure was a living being if he hadn't noticed the glowing yellow eyes following him as he moved about the room.

Curiosity prompted him forward to investigate. His wards would have told him if anyone had been coming or going from any part of his house even if he was away for work. This meant that whoever was in his attic had to have been living there for at least the last five years, probably more. This concerned Harry, because if it was true, whoever it was, was most likely more than just human to have survived. As he got closer, he noticed that the figure, who was definitely male, had a body so frail that he seemed to be held together only by magic. The only reason the man had not collapsed yet was that the debris surrounding him had kept him propped up.

As Harry registered more of the man's appearance, it became more obvious that he definitely wasn't human. Despite this, years of knowing and respecting Remus Lupin had left Harry with a respect for all Beings, human or otherwise and he was determined to help the man.

"Can you hear me?" Harry asked and the man nodded. "I'm going to help you get out of here, and then we will find out where you are supposed to be okay?" The man nodded again and Harry started shifting stuff around.

Once a path had been cleared, the man started to slide and Harry had to support his weight. Together they made their way to where the door was hidden on the opposite side of the room, but in his weakened state, the man couldn't manage even that and Harry thought he could feel the man crumbling next to him. Deciding that it would be better for him to make the trip in short increments, Harry stopped and helped the man to sit down and rest. The man kept ahold of Harry's hand, and now that Harry was looking at him, he decided that the man wasn't crumbling so much as disintegrating.

Caught up in his thoughts about what could cause a being to fall apart in that manner, Harry didn't realize what the man was doing until he felt a sharp pain in his wrist. Startled, Harry looked up in time to see what was left of the man with Harry's wrist in his mouth before he faded away completely.

 _Well that's just great,_ Harry thought. _There was a bloody vampire in my attic._ Slightly frightened now, Harry fled out of the room and sealed the door behind him. He doubted that there would be anything else considerably dangerous in there anymore, but he didn't want to take that chance. Looking down at his wrist, Harry sealed the bleeding puncture wounds with a charm. Harry knew that he would have to report what he found to Kingsley eventually, but all he wanted to do right now was sleep and see if he could forget what happened, so Harry made his way down the stairs to his room where he climbed into the bed he shared with Ginny and fell promptly asleep.

When Harry woke, it was to a soft touch and beautiful flowery smell. Before he was even fully awake, he realized that he was hungry and briefly wondered how long he had been asleep. He was still tired, but he knew that if he wanted to get back to sleep, he would have to find something to eat. At the thought of food however, Harry was taken aback to realize that it didn't sound even remotely appealing. With a sigh, he started to get up. Even if it didn't sound good, Harry knew that he should eat something.

"Oh good, you're awake. I was starting to get worried" Harry spun around to look at the source of the voice. Ginny wasn't supposed to be home for another two or three days.

"Kingsley called me. He said you didn't make in for work yesterday. I just got here a few hours ago and you were sound asleep."

"Yesterday? I wasn't supposed to be back at work until Monday."

"Harry, today is Tuesday. Are you telling me that you have been asleep for the past two days?" Ginny came around the bed to stand in front of Harry bringing the same scent he had woken up to closer to him. It made his mouth water. "You know that when you're not feeling well you need to go to St. Mungos."

"I didn't think there was anything wrong, I had just come out of the attic and fancied a nap. I didn't know I would be out for so long."

"Honestly Harry," Ginny sighed. She came forward and wrapped her arms around him. "You need to take better care of yourself. No one else can do that for you."

"I know." Harry hugged her back and went to bury his face in her hair the way he always did when she came home from long training sessions. However, Harry was overcome by her delicious scent and on an impulse sank his teeth into her neck. Ginny screamed at the pain but the taste of her blood soothed his hunger and he was lost as baser instincts took control of his actions.

When Harry came back to himself, he was not immediately aware of what he had done. He was stood facing the bed and he turned away from it, his desire to sleep suddenly gone. As he turned, he glimpsed the fire red of Ginny's hair and he froze. Looking at her, he noticed that she was much paler than he had ever seen her. It was as he reached towards her to see if she was alright he remembered the tang of blood and the feel of her neck against his face.

"Shit." Horrified, Harry acted on impulse and apparated away.

Harry appeared on the doorstep of his best friends' house. It wasn't until he noticed the light in the kitchen window that he remembered that they were supposed to be away on their honeymoon. Feeling guilty, he knocked on the door.

"Harry! How did you know we were home already?" Hermione had opened the door and stood aside to let him come into the house.

"Um, I didn't. I panicked and apparated here without thinking first. But I need to talk to you. Both of you." Harry rushed the words out and both of his friends immediately knew something was wrong. Very wrong.

"Alright mate, you know where the couch is. I'll grab us a beer and then we'll talk." As Ron turned back into the kitchen, Harry made a face at the mention of beer that he didn't think went unnoticed by Hermione. Soon they were settled in the living room, each with their drink.

"What's wrong Harry?" Hermione asked.

"I killed her" Harry blurted. He had wanted to find another way to say it, especially since Ginny was Ron's sister but he hadn't thought of anything else in time.

"WHAT?" Ron's enraged shout echoed around the room, while Hermione sat there with an expression of disbelief.

"I'm sure it wasn't your fault Harry. Why don't you tell us what happened?" Hermione said as she placed a hand on her husband's arm to prevent him from jumping up after Harry.

"I didn't mean to, but I did. And you're going to need more than just what happened." With that, Harry started with his plan to cleanse the attic that had gone so drastically wrong. When he mentioned the man in the attic, Hermione clapped her hand to her mouth.

"He bit you didn't he Harry? What happened to him?"

"Er, yeah he did. Then he kind of disintegrated. He just fell apart."

"He must have been really old and not eaten for a very long time for that to happen. That's one of the few ways they can actually die. Well, you now too I suppose."

"Wait, what? What's this got to do with Harry killing my sister? Who was the creepy dude in the attic, mate?"

"He was a vampire, Ronald. He bit Harry and now he's one too. It still wasn't your fault she died, Harry. All newborn vampires have difficulty controlling their thirst and that's when they know what's going on. You wouldn't have known enough to even think about controlling yourself around her."

"Blimey mate. I'd like to be right pissed at you, but I'm not. I'm pissed with the vampire that bit you, and whoever had him trapped in the attic, but not at you. Well, maybe a bit for going near him in the first place, but knowing you, you probably did it because of Remus and Teddy."

At that Harry could only nod. He was thankful that his friends didn't blame him for the death of his girlfriend, but that still left him coming to terms with the fact that he was no longer human. He was a vampire, a monster that almost all wizards feared and he didn't think that his fame would change how the public saw him once they found out. He had come here with a halfhearted hope that Hermione would tell him that he was wrong, that he wasn't a vampire now, but as one of the senior executives in the Department for the Control and Regulation of Magical Creatures, she was never wrong.

"Harry, we need to tell Kingsley. He'll know more about what to do. And, at some point, you will have to register with the department too." Harry groaned and Ron started.

"But what about mum and the rest of the family? We have to tell them too."

"I know Ron, but Hermione is right, we need to talk with Kingsley first. None of us are exactly low profile." Ron just sat back and nodded as Hermione strode over to the fireplace and activated the floo.

"Kingsley Shacklebolt's office" The minister's slow voice answered her call.

"We have a situation that we need your immediate help with Kingsley. It would be best if you came through to our end."

"Very well Hermione, I will be there in a moment." The floo cut out momentarily before it flared back to life, revealing the Minister of Magic.

"Ah, Harry good to see you. Am I to assume that this meeting has something to do with your absence from work?"

"Yes sir."

"Really Harry, we're not at work, there is no need to call me sir all the time."

"Sorry Kingsley, force of habit I guess. But yes, the problem involves the reason I was not at work yesterday, or today for that matter. It started with my decision to begin the cleaning of my attic while I was on leave." And with that Harry launched into his story, this time including all of the details that hadn't been necessary when Hermione had figured out that he had been bit. He felt guilty once again when he got to how Ginny had died and he glanced over at Ron to see how he was taking the more detailed version of his sister's death. To his credit, while he seemed upset, Ron was able to keep his temper with the vampire, and Harry, in check.

"First things first, Harry, with your new status you will need to remain apart from the majority of people, at least until you are able to control your new instincts. Also, I am sure you will agree, that this should not get out to the public for just about every reason imaginable. Which means that we will need a plausible cover story for both the death of Ginny and your sudden departure from the auror department. My guess is that the cause of death that is least likely to be questioned is a miscarriage as that can result in significant blood loss, which will give you a window of about a week before people would expect you to reappear at work."

"There is always Polymorphus Light Eruption. It's better known as sun allergy. That way it will help to explain some of the physical characteristics that come with being a vampire. Some other concerns, Kingsley, are what to do about listing Harry on the registry as that is available to everyone and appointing him a handler since his creator died."

"What about a handler? I don't need a baby sitter." Harry sputtered.

"It's not like that Harry. Handler is our way of referring to the person who teaches the new vampires rules and hunting instincts and so forth. Typically it's the responsibility of the creator which they acknowledge when they make the decision to create another. But since yours is no longer able, one will need to be assigned to you, which will be difficult if we are trying to keep this quiet."

"As you work in the Department for the Control and Regulation for Magical Creatures, I believe that you are more than qualified to be Harry's handler, Hermione. In regards to the registry, I believe that it will suffice if the head of the DCRMC is aware of the situation."

"I thought we were trying to keep as few people aware of this as possible Kingsley. I don't really want to give the world another reason to stare at me," Harry interjected.

"Of course we are. Which brings me to a point that I was going to wait until later this week to bring up with you, Hermione. While you were gone, Madam Giselle, the current head for the department has expressed to me her desire to retire, leaving me with the need to find her replacement." Kingsley finished with a smile at the expressions of disbelief evident on everyone's faces.

"Congratulations, babe!" Ron was the first person to unfreeze and he jumped up and hugged his wife, knocking her off the arm of his chair as he did so. Both of them were laughing as they stood back up. Harry joined in as he realized that, maybe, this wasn't going to be the end of the world. Even Kingsley cracked a smile before continuing on.

"I believe that the remainder of the Weasley family should know the truth however, but then, as far as we are capable, the knowledge ends there. I will be involved in telling the family and making sure that the truth of Ginny's death does not get out, but I will leave it to the three of you to establish an appropriate cover for Harry. Now, I must ask you to lead me to where this all went down and then we shall inform Molly and the rest."

With a nod, Harry stood and apparated to Grimmauld Place and waited for Kingsley to follow. To his surprise both Ron and Hermione appeared as well. Silently, he led them up to the attic and unsealed it. He remained outside while both Kingsley and Hermione entered.

"Well, there doesn't seem to be anything left hiding in there." Kingsley said as he exited the door. "It also seems as if the vampire has truly expired, so there is nothing to change in where we move from here. Now, downstairs."

When they reached the bedroom, Hermione joined Ron and Harry in their avoidance of the room while Kingsley examined what happened. Every now and again, he would cast a spell that they could not tell what its purpose was. Eventually he returned to them and pronounced that he was done and that no one would be able to tell that she hadn't died of a miscarriage. Then Kingsley sent the three of them back to Ron and Hermione's while he dealt with breaking the news to the rest of the family, promising to return once he was finished.

When they returned to the house, Hermione began to explain the basic rules to Harry.

"You will have to remain indoors during the day, since sunlight is harmful. It won't kill you immediately but repeated or prolonged exposure without hunting will. Because of your status, you will want to save the times you expose yourself to sunlight for important events and the like. Also, hunting has been restricted for all vampires, which means that you are only allowed to target muggles. I don't like that but I didn't get to make the rules. Since we are trying to keep you as low profile as possible, I am going to recommend that you attempt to hunt out of the country where possible. You are able to go for long periods of time without hunting, and I can help prolong that a little bit by donating small amounts of my blood each day. Unfortunately, I will not be able to teach you how to hunt which means you will be learning on your own. Another reason to hunt away from large wizarding populations. The biggest thing that we are going to have to worry about is your self-control around people since you will still be expected to perform certain duties such as making appearances at large functions. You seem to be doing well enough right now, but we cannot expect that it will always hold."

"I know, I just don't want to hurt anyone else, if I know them or not."

"Harry, mate, you have to eat just like the rest of us. You just eat a little differently now."

"It's been over an hour, do you think Kingsley has finished talking to Molly yet?" As soon as Hermione finished speaking, the floo roared to life depositing Kingsley, quickly followed by Molly, into the living room.

"Oh, Harry!" Molly rushed forward and enveloped Harry into a hug. Harry froze, not trusting himself with her so close to him. "I'm so sorry that this happened to you. None of us blame you dear, it all happened so fast and you didn't even know."

"I bet Percy was a right prat about it" Ron scoffed.

"Yes, well, Percy has always seen things a little differently" Molly paused to catch her breath and pursed her lips before she continued speaking. "Even if he doesn't agree with how the Minister has asked us all to acknowledge the situation, he will stick to the story. He learned a thing or two about supporting his family during the war. And no matter what has happened, Harry is as much a part of this family as him or Ginny."

"He's probably just afraid that Harry'll go after him if he says anything."

"Ronald!" The shout came from both Molly Weasley and Hermione.

"Even if Harry were allowed to hunt wizards, he wouldn't go after Percy. Would you Harry?" Hermione turned to Harry with a stern glare.

"Of course not, Hermione" Harry answered her with a smile, although he sent Ron a wink once Hermione turned her back.

"Harry, you have one week off from the auror department in order to grieve for the loss of Ginny before I will expect a letter of resignation from you. Obviously, it is already in effect, but one is still needed with a reasonable excuse for the public story," Kingsley said before he stepped back into the floo and returned to his office.

"I need to get back home too, Harry dear, but make sure that you come by soon. We still like to see you around the Burrow whenever you feel like it." With that, Molly took her leave, giving the three time to talk and decide how they were going to make their new changed relationship work.


	2. May 2nd 2008

AN: Chapter 2, as promised. To those of you who didn't like me killing off Ginny, I apologize. I honestly didn't see any other way for her to fit into the story.

Enjoy :)

XXX

May 2nd, 2008.

"Harry James Potter, we are going to be late if you do not get over here NOW" Hermione yelled into the floo, not for the first time that evening. Moments later, she heard him apparate on the porch.

"Sorry, I got caught up organizing the pictures from my hunting trip. I got some great shots of a sphinx I saw in Egypt."

"Harry, you have all week to work on your portfolio before you have to present it to the Daily Prophet. Tonight however, you are expected to appear at the anniversary celebration. I hope you fed enough on your trip, I can't get any more blood replenishing potions for another week and I only have one left."

"Relax Hermione. We've been doing this for five years now. Nothing is going to go wrong. I am completely in control of myself. Do you know who Ron is bringing as his date tonight?"

"Last he told me, it was Lavender." Hermione rolled her eyes. "Honestly, he can do better than her. We need to leave now if we want to make it on time."

Harry laughed at Hermione and offered her his arm. Despite the sham, and even after all this time, Hermione still didn't like Lavender Brown.

"There's no need to get jealous. He only does it to convince the press that he's just a playboy since the divorce. He still loves you."

"Let's just go Harry." Still chuckling, Harry spun and apparated away.

They arrived at the gate outside Hogwarts. It was still early evening, which meant that the sun was still visible. Harry hissed.

"Ug, I hate the way that feels. It makes me all itchy. Let's hurry up and get inside." The two of them walked up the drive towards the castle, arm in arm.

"Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger. Welcome to the tenth anniversary celebration of the end of the war. Inside you will find that tables have been assigned this year, yours is up by the front. Do enjoy the celebration." Minerva McGonagall greeted them at the door, before waving them inside.

When they entered the Great Hall, Harry saw that they had left the overall decorations the same, simply switching out the house tables for hundreds of smaller ones. The staff table remained where it had always been, but the staff were to be seen sitting at the smaller tables around the room while various ministry members and other important persons sat in their usual places. Despite the atmosphere and the fact that everyone else was wearing their formal robes as well, Harry still felt as if he had overdressed for the occasion, even if he was only wearing plain black dress robes.

"Potter. You and Granger are sharing our table." The drawling voice drew Harry away from his inspection of the Great Hall as he crossed the room. Looking towards the voice, he saw the towering frame of Draco Malfoy standing only a few feet away. He was wearing navy blue robes with fine silver detailing that reminded Harry of constellations he thought he had seen on his hunting trips.

"Is something fascinating Potter?" Draco asked as he realized that Harry had either not been paying attention to his greeting or had gotten distracted before he could respond.

"Yes actually. I'm trying to figure out which country I was in when I've seen the constellations that are on your robes. I'm pretty sure they were southern."

"Harry!"

"I'm surprised you know anything about the stars, Potter." Draco arched his brow before turning and resuming his seat next to a woman in emerald robes with dark brown hair. Harry and Hermione followed. Harry barely heard Hermione's warning to behave as his attention was once again fixated on Malfoy. He wasn't taking in anything new about him, he was still Malfoy and nothing about him had really changed since Hogwarts but Harry was unable to look away.

Hermione jerked his arm, startling him out of fixation.

"Honestly, what is with you tonight?" Hermione hissed as she pushed Harry into his seat. "It's like you haven't been around humans before."

"I'm fine Hermione. I just find him slightly distracting." Harry whispered back. "I'm not going to do anything weird."

"Well, you better behave."

Harry looked around the table to see who else was there. Besides Malfoy and his date, there were three other couples. To his right sat Blaise and Pansy, followed by Dean and Seamus. On his left was Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott. Draco was almost directly across the table from him. Harry grinned, he would be able to watch him throughout the night.

"So, I must admit Granger, I thought I would see you here with the Weasel instead of Potter. Last I heard, the two of you had just gotten married."

"Have you been living under a rock Malfoy?" Seamus jumped into the conversation. "Hermione and Harry have been together for the last four years."

"Under a rock? No, Finnegan I have been in France with Mother since the end of the war. We don't often return to London so our information comes in second hand. Not that I find the personal lives of the Golden Trio worth keeping up on."

"Then why bring it up?"

"It is called making conversation, Finnegan. It is going to be a long night, and I do not wish to spend it in total silence."

"When do you go on your next trip Harry? Ernie and I loved your last series on sunsets." Hannah changed the topic of discussion, forcing Harry to take his eyes off Draco to look at her.

"I actually just got back from one last night. The photos should run in the prophet sometime next week. My focus themed on creatures classified as highly dangerous. My favorite is of a sphynx I saw in Egypt. It had carved out a cave in one of the pyramids to use as a shelter during the lightning storm they had last week. It was incredible."

"You are into photography now? What happened to being an auror?" Malfoy interjected. Harry glanced over at Hermione who nodded slightly.

"I gave up being an auror after Ginny died. I could have kept working, but I worked too many daylight hours and that aggravated my skin condition, so I left in order to find something else. Eventually I got bored just sitting at home so I started to travel. After I got home from my first trip and showed my photographs to Ron and Hermione, they suggested I start a photojournalism column with the Prophet. I've done about one every month since then."

"I know I've sent you a few of them, Draco, even I'm impressed by them. Every one of them shows a different aspect of magical, muggle or natural life at night from all around the world. The series on spells was my favorite" Pansy piped in.

"Perhaps, although it is more likely that I passed them over to my mother without bothering to look at the name underneath. Seeing how much one life has changed, I find myself now interested in what has happened to the other two thirds. Relationship standings aside as I think I have that figured out now," Draco once again turned the conversation around.

"Very well. I have been the head of the Department for Control and Regulation of Magical Creatures for the last five years. I have never gone on one of Harry's trips as it gives me a chance to focus on the new legislation coming through the department, and he tells me that I would be a distraction to him and his subjects. Which is probably true because he gets a lot closer to many dangerous creatures than should be considered safe, and while I doubt that he does anything that he shouldn't, his ability to stand on the line without crossing it would make me uncomfortable." Harry couldn't help but grin at that.

"Ron on the other hand, is still working at the joke shop with George. Since our divorce, he doesn't seem too intent on settling down. Despite the divorce and me dating Harry, we are all still very close." Hermione recited the agreed upon cover story. It had been so long since everything had happened that it seemed to be almost second nature.

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention?" McGonagall spoke from in front of the staff table. "It has been ten years since the fall of Voldemort, and in that time our community has rebuilt and gotten stronger in the hopes that this will never happen again." She continued speaking but Harry had stopped paying attention, his focus once again on Draco.

It wasn't until Hermione elbowed him that he realized the speeches were over and food had been served. Conversation around the table began again, but it was stilted since everyone was busy enjoying the food. Harry ate slowly, hating the way the food tasted but thankful that Hermione had discovered a spell which vanished it before it reached his stomach. He didn't really fancy getting sick and losing his self-control again.

"Harry, are you all right? You look really pale." Ernie asked.

"I can't be any paler than usual seeing how I am rarely outside during the daylight." Harry answered with a smirk, grateful that he was at least paying attention this time. It was one thing for Hermione to catch him staring at Malfoy since she knew what he was, but he didn't want anyone else to notice. "It's probably just the candle light, making it obvious."

"I don't see how the lighting is supposed to make you look any better, Potter" Malfoy sneered.

"Be nice Draco," Pansy admonished. "Besides, I think Ernie is right. Potter does look a bit paler than he did earlier."

Harry didn't know what to say, he just started at her, but it didn't seem to matter as everyone else was staring too. Clearly nobody at the table, even Malfoy, had ever heard her dismiss him and be nice to Harry in the same breath. Hermione was the first to recover.

"She might be right, Harry. Besides, you did just get home from a trip this morning and that tends to leave you out of sorts. Once dinner is over, I'll go check that we're not needed for anything important and then we can go home."

Harry nodded, and returned to watching Malfoy while pretending to eat. Slowly, everyone else at the table resumed eating their dinner. Once the meal had finished, Headmistress McGonagall stood at the head of the Great Hall.

"If you would all please stand, I will clear the tables so that the party may begin." She paused while everyone stood, and with a wave of her wand half of the dining tables became standing cocktail tables, while the others simply vanished, leaving a stage and dance floor behind. "Enjoy yourselves."

"Harry, I'm going to talk to Professor McGonagall. Don't wander too far, I'll be right back."

"Yeah, alright Hermione" he assured her.

"And leave him alone," she hissed at him. "Honestly, it's like you never hunted at all this trip. Clearly, I'm going to have to bring you a drink before we leave."

"A drink? What do you mean?" He turned around to tell her that it wasn't necessary, but she had already gone. He shrugged and went to wait for her by one of the cocktail tables. On his way, he passed by Malfoy. On a whim, he changed direction and chose a table that allowed him to be nearer to Malfoy than the one he originally planned. He wasn't close enough to be able to hear them without using his legilimency, but he didn't want to hear what Malfoy had to say anyways.

"Care to explain why you've been staring at me all evening, Potter?" Harry started. Even though he had been watching him, he hadn't noticed Malfoy walking towards him. "Your remark about the constellations may have worked the first time, but now I want a proper answer."

"Right, sorry. I don't really know why. I can't help it I suppose" Harry shrugged in reply.

"There you are Harry, I thought I told you not to wander. Oh, hello again Malfoy." Hermione handed Harry a glass, unknowingly saving him from what was probably the worst comment Harry could have made. "Here, I brought you something to drink before we leave. I added some of your usual potion to the punch. Drink it SLOWLY. I've seen you drink when you're thirsty." She hissed the last part so that only Harry could hear her.

"I've told you Hermione, I don't need it, and I'm fine."

"Is that some sort of health potion? I can't say that I recognize it."

"You don't have to recognize it, Malfoy." Harry said as he drained his glass, more to keep him from figuring out what it really was than out of actual thirst. "All that matters is that it works, even if I don't think it's necessary."

"As a potions master, I know all of the potions and their variations. I don't know that one."

"As I said Malfoy, you don't have to know what it is."

"We really should be going Harry," Hermione interjected. "Goodbye Malfoy." With that she took Harry by the arm and together they left the Great Hall.

* * *

AN: And we have contact!

I've apologized before, but I'm doing it again because I feel bad. I may not be able to update this story frequently in the next month or so as I have my thesis due and my writing ability will be otherwise occupied. On the rare occasion that my mental functioning and spare moments coincide, I will do what I can to give you some more.

Thanks for reading XXX


	3. May 8th 2008

AN: Hello lovelies. Sorry I have been gone so long, but school has gotten in the way. I still have another three weeks left before I can be done with my thesis, but until then I hope this tides you over. Enjoy :)

* * *

May 8, 2008

"Harry, Ralph is back." The small female voice echoed through both the house and his head. "He says he's got news."

"I'll be right there, Chloe." He didn't need Chloe to tell him Ralph was here. Speaking out loud had become a habit for the two of them as they spent the most time around humans. Even here in their safe house where Harry always kept his mental guards down completely, the habit was hard to break. He always knew when anyone came or went. It also allowed him to keep an eye on the newest members of his coven. They had all been rogues that had been created and set loose without a handler within the last year. The fact that it was now occurring more rapidly meant that he needed to talk with Ralph.

"What's the news on the rogues?" Harry locked eyes with the wispy blond vampire as soon as he entered the room.

"It seems like this whole thing is being masterminded by someone that is not one of us. I know we caught the one that was supposed to be leading this whole thing last month, but he's been replaced. That being said, I think that whoever is behind all of these rogues has finally figured out that all of their desertions are no longer coincidence. Whatever is going to happen, its going to happen soon."

"Damnit. Alright, Chloe and I will see what we can do about getting some of the others ready to fight."

"Also, I think you should know that I've noticed a change in the power dynamic. It's not that any of their newborns are taking control, more that the control structure is different. Like how our coven was when I started leading with you."

"Bugger it all. Fine, we will…"

Suddenly the floo roared to life and Hermione's voice came through.

"Harry, Kingsley and I need to talk to you, Chloe and Ralph. Can you come through?"

"I'll be through in a minute, Hermione" he responded with a glance at Ralph.

 _I've already been away from the rogues for too long. I don't need them finding me before we know what's going on._ Ralph's voice echoed in his head. Harry nodded and Ralph headed out the door.

"Right, Hermione it'll just be me and Chloe. Ralph is needed elsewhere."

"You're going to have to carry me through, Harry. The floo still won't let me through unless I'm coming here. It sucks being born a muggle." Chloe pouted before transforming into a bat and landing in Harry's outstretched hand. Harry then stepped into the fire.

Coming to a stop, Harry stepped out in Hermione's office in the Ministry of Magic. Hermione was sitting on the front of her desk and Kingsley was in a chair in front of her. Harry lightly tossed the small bat in the palm of his hand into the air. Chloe landed on her feet gently beside him.

"Right, Hermione, Kingsley. What's the problem?"

"Over the last year, we have been receiving reports of rogue vampires. In many cases, those reports disappear almost as soon as we hear about it. This last week, however, the reports just keep coming in from all over the country." At this Harry and Chloe shot each other a glance.

 _I think they are blaming us,_ Chloe shot at Harry who shook his head. _They know you took Ralph and I in. How long until they figure out about the others?_

 _I think they're asking for help. And, they are going to find out now._

 _You're mental._

"We have been following the same reports. That's why they disappear. I also stopped telling you about the rogues I have adopted since I found Ralph. About ten months ago, he told me that he was created to be a part of a rogue coven that ignores all of the rules and that he had a feeling something bigger was going on. Since then, I have been following all of the rogues I hear about and give them the choice to join me. Ostensibly, Ralph is still a part of the rogue coven, but he is doing it to find out more about what is really happening. About three weeks ago, we found the vampire who we thought was behind it all and we killed him. The escalation of the rogues now, shows that we were wrong and that it isn't actually a vampire behind this at all. Whatever they are planning, they are going to do it soon."

"You killed him? Harry, that was irresponsible of you." Hermione seemed to forget that they were dealing with a larger issue and took on her handler voice.

"Actually it wasn't. You forget that while I'm visibly still a part of wizard society, I create almost all of the rules governing my own behavior and I have no qualms about killing a rival vampire, especially with what Ralph and I have discovered."

"Still, Harry,"

"Hermione, you have a visitor at the door," Chloe interrupted and Hermione strode over to open it.

"Malfoy, what… I mean, may I help you? This is after hours."

"I wanted to know what was up with you and your boyfriend at the party last week. A glass full of blood isn't usually helpful for many ailments, wizarding or otherwise." Draco sneered at her.

Malfoy hadn't even entered into Harry's line of sight, but upon hearing his voice, once again he couldn't help but stare at him.

"OH!" Chloe's exclamation was both verbal and mental. The force of her shout pulled Harry from his daze and he sent her a questioning look, but she had closed her mind off to him. Despite this he saw the gleam in her eye that meant she was laughing at him.

"Chloe quit laughing unless you want to tell me why," Harry growled at her.

"Sorry Harry. I should be getting back to the house. We've left the others unsupervised for long enough. By the way," she pointed over at Malfoy. "He already knows."

Now that his attention had once again been drawn back to Malfoy, Harry couldn't look away. He thought the others might have been trying to get his attention, but it wasn't until he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder that he was able to move. With a snarl, he spun around, transforming at the same time. He pinned Chloe underneath him, with a large black paw on either side of her head.

 _What the hell was that for Chloe?_ He questioned her with his mind.

"You needed someone to bring you back to reality. The only way we thought that was going to happen at this point was by triggering your defenses." She answered him out loud before turning into a bat long enough to escape Harry, who resumed human form as soon as she had. Chloe came to stand by the fireplace. "You need to be here to figure out what we are doing about the rogues, and to explain yourself to Draco. Speaking of which, Draco when he zones out on you again, hit him with a stinging hex."

"Why should I? You apparently live with him, and he tried to rip your head off."

"Because you are the one person in this room who he will not attack."

"Considering our history, I am inclined to not believe you."

"I would do it if I was able to stay, but as I indicated several minutes ago, I have newborns to attend to. Out of the three humans remaining, your blood the least appealing. And for some reason, that is making the both of us protective of you. That being said, I am going to caution you against getting involved with whatever you learn tonight." With that, Chloe turned and stepped through the fire.

"Fine. Well, care to tell me why Harry is a vampire and what these rogues she mentioned are about?" Malfoy turned towards Harry, who once again appeared to have zoned out. Irritated, Malfoy threw a stinging hex at him without thinking but all he got in return was a flash of anger in Harry's eyes before he started telling about everything that had happened in the last five years.

* * *

Several hours later, Harry arrived back at his studio and immediately started searching for Chloe.

"I'm not going to tell you what you want to know Harry. Normally I would, but with the rogue army, I need you to stay focused."

"That's not going to help much since Draco has had as much experience with dark creatures as I do without actually being one, and Kingsley wants him to help us get them under control. Both Kingsley and Hermione have to stay out of it directly, and since I'm already so involved with it, we're all reluctant to bring the aurors in."

"Did my warning mean nothing?"

"Yep. He listens to you about as well as I do."

"It's his neck I guess."

"What about that blood protection thing you mentioned?"

"That will only work on vampires that are loyal to you. It will actually make him more of a target for those we're going to be fighting because it will make it easier for them to target you."

"What on earth are you on about Chloe?"

"Ugh, fine. Vampires call it claiming and as far as I know, wizards don't have a record of it because vampires tend to spend more of their time in the muggle world. Muggles call it imprinting because they don't realize that it involves a choice. Even if a vampire has claimed someone, that person can say no and walk away. When a claim is made, the scent of the vampire who made the claim masks the appeal of the human's blood, meaning, that the only vampire who finds Draco Malfoy's blood attractive is you."

"But I don't want his blood. I just kind of zone out and keep staring at him."

"You do want his blood. I could hear it in your head, but because he hasn't accepted your claim, your magic is keeping you away from him until he either accepts or rejects your claim."

"Brilliant. So if I'm supposed to be working with Malfoy on this rogue case, how am I going to do that while staying focused on the vampires?"

"Good question. How did the meeting go after I left?"

"It was fine as long as I kept talking. Anytime there was a pause I focused on Malfoy again. Although, I think there were fewer stinging hexes towards the end. It's hard to tell, he just likes hexing me."

"Interesting. I'll be back."

'Wait, where are you going?" Harry tried to figure out what she was going to do, but Chloe had already transformed and had her mind blocked to him.

"Goddamnit"


	4. May 8th 2008, Part 2

AN: Hello my dears, I'm back. Finally. I know several of you want to see more of Ron, but he hasn't come up in what I have so far. I will try to work something in when I get to the newer chapters. I promise though, he is fine and is in on everything. Well, mostly. I haven't decided yet. Enjoy!

* * *

"Are you really sure this is a good idea?" Draco Malfoy glanced around him to see the rolling hills of Scotland.

"Absolutely. Since you clearly didn't listen to my warning earlier, I need Harry to be able to remain focused when he's around you and from what he told me of the meeting, constant exposure seems to help."

"And exactly how many vampires did you say lived here?"

"I didn't."

Draco continued his survey of the area. There was a stone house nestled into the surrounding hills, so overgrown with ivy that surely no one in their right mind would live there. But clearly someone did live here as there were lights on in the window. It wasn't like there were any other housing options to choose from, since Draco was pretty sure the nearest neighbor would be found inside Stirling's city walls, several miles away, and Chloe assured him that they were in the right place.

"I should warn you now, the next step we take will put us inside the perimeter Harry sets on his legillimency. He knows everyone who comes in or out of the property, even if they have occulumency shields up."

"And this is a warning because?"

"I didn't tell him you were coming."

"Fine. Let's just get this over with."

XXX

Harry felt it the moment Chloe returned. He was also very much aware that she was not alone. He sent out a quick warning to everyone who was still at home.

 _I need all of you to behave. We have a human guest. If you think you will not be able to control yourself, go hunting now._ In a manner of seconds, he was inundated with almost a hundred positive replies. Satisfied, Harry blocked his thoughts from the rest of them.

 _THIS IS YOUR GRAND IDEA, CHLOE? WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING BRINGING HIM HERE?_ Harry felt her flinch as she registered his shouting. At the moment, he didn't care. _First of all, I hope you remember clearly that you told me not five minutes before you left that the reason I get weird around him is because all I want is his blood. Secondly, did you even consider the fact that you and I are both in charge of teaching dozens of newborns how to control themselves? How do you think the youngest are going to react to human blood so close to them, claim protection be damned? I know it's been a while since you were a newborn, but the pull of human blood at the stage some of them are at is a lot stronger than you seem to think._

 _Harry,_ Chloe began but he cut her off.

 _And then what about Malfoy? I hope that you at least explained to him how much of a risk he's taking by staying here, from me and everyone else. That's not even mentioning everything that we have to keep hidden from him, not only for the safety of the newborns, but to keep Ralph out of trouble too!_

 _Will you relax Harry? I didn't tell him anything. Not about claiming, not about anything. I only told him that this will help both of you be able to focus when working around each other. And yes, I do remember saying that you wanted his blood but I also had a really hard time explaining how strong the magic is that is protecting him. If you don't believe me, take a look at mine and everyone else's reactions to the way his blood smells, not even a newborn created yesterday would go after him._

 _This is about more than just the coming fight with the rogues, Harry. I'm also trying to give you the chance to convince him to accept your claim. Draco only knows you from Hogwarts, not who you are now._ Harry didn't bother to answer her, he simply growled and went to meet them by the door.

Harry had just come to a stop in the entryway with his arms crossed when Chloe opened the door. She smiled at him as if nothing was wrong, and winked. This only frustrated him further and he growled again.

"Oh hush, you can fight me later Harry." As his second in command, Chloe was the only one Harry allowed to contradict him on a regular basis, but that didn't mean he let her get away with it. Most of the time he would get her back with silly pranks from George's shop, but for the more serious stuff they would duel. Since Chloe had been born a muggle, she wasn't able to fight with magic so they left it to hand-to-hand fighting. It had been a while since their last fight and Harry was looking forward to it.

"As impressive as this stoic display is Potter, I was led to believe that there was going to be a more dramatic entrance." Draco's taunts had lost most of their malice since the end of the war, but six years of rivalry before that still made them hard to swallow. Thankfully, Chloe cut in.

"Believe me Draco, Harry was being plenty dramatic the whole time, he just didn't let you hear him."

"Enough about how dramatic I am Chloe. Malfoy, I wasn't expecting you so I didn't clear out one of the rooms the newborns use, so you'll have to use Hermione's until I can get everybody reorganized. Also, you will have to check the kitchen to see what kind of food we have as I don't make a habit of keeping it stocked for humans, although you will have to shop for food the muggle way as I am trying to keep a low profile here for obvious reasons."

"Don't worry about changing everyone's living arrangements Potter, I am certain that Granger's room will be more than sufficient. As for food, I shall simply have my house elf worry about the preparations."

While Draco was speaking, Harry started to lose his focus until he was once again hit with a stinging hex.

"Right. Yeah, so I'll just show you to the room." With that, Harry turned around and walked back up the stairs. He didn't bother to turn around to make sure Malfoy was following him. He didn't need to, on his property, he knew where everyone was all the time. "All of the rooms on the second floor are used by the others vampires in the coven. Mine, Chloe's and Hermione's room are on the third floor, away from the newborns. Chloe's is the one on the left and mine is at the end of the hall. Yours is the first door on the right. The second one is the bathroom."

"Thank you Potter." With a nod of his head, Malfoy entered his room and shut the door. Harry continued to stare after him for several moments.

 _That went well._ Chloe's voice was smug. _You already don't zone out as quickly._

 _I'm not talking to you._ Harry turned his head and shot her another glare.

"Liar."

Harry decided to ignore her, and spend the evening in his photo studio. Before he lost himself in his work he opened his mind to everyone, including Malfoy. _Listen up everyone. There is a mandatory coven meeting in the living room at sunrise. Make sure everyone gets back here by then, even those who are not here right now._

He received a smattering of replies ranging from _okay_ to _you're the boss._ He even heard Malfoy's sarcastic _is this necessary, Potter?_ Harry ignored him and shut himself in with his photos. His trip portfolio was due tomorrow and he wanted to make sure that he was telling the story he wanted to.


	5. May 9th 2008

May 9th, 2008

Harry had been standing in the living room since well before sunrise. There was still about 20 minutes to go and already most of coven had assembled. The seats on the couch were first come, first served and some of the newborns liked to fight over them. Harry usually let them settle it themselves, but he still liked to supervise the commotion. Anyone who didn't make it either had to stand, or sit transformed in the rafters. Most of them chose the rafters.

Harry started running through his check list of names to see if everyone had shown up. So far the only ones missing were Malfoy and Don and Gina. Don and Gina were twins and Harry had found them at the same time. They always stayed out until right before sunrise. Gina said it was because Don liked the risk of being burned by the sun. Don said it was just Gina being slow. Harry didn't really care either way.

Harry glanced out the window. He could see the first light of sunrise over the tops of the hills. At that moment, he heard the upstairs door close and watched his two missing underlings swoop through the window and find adjacent spots on the ceiling. He turned forwards and waited until he could see Malfoy on the stairs. He did his best to ignore him as he began to speak.

"First off, I mentioned to you last night that we had a human guest. Draco Malfoy will be staying with us for the foreseeable future. If you have a problem with that, you know the rules and you know your options. Deal with it.

"Next, I must address a topic that all of us tend to avoid. Your pasts. I gave all of you the option to accept guidance in appropriate behaviors and hunting practices when I found you. Some of you were simply created and left to find your own way. Most of you however, were taught the wrong rules by your creator. Some of you may know that this was not an accident. Your creator is aiming to build a coven that disregards human kind and believes themselves to be better than them.

"If scorn and reproach was all that this coven was designed for, I would not be having this conversation with you. In fact, coven may not be the appropriate word. Here, in this house, all of us are a coven. We live together, and interact with one another as a family. The coven most of you were created to be a part of however, is better described as becoming an army.

"I know that they are planning an event that will target the wizarding population of Great Britain. What I do not know is if the goal is to destroy wizard kind or if they want to create a large enough fear of vampires that the ministry of magic will sanction our extinction. It is possible that they have another goal altogether. I also don't know when said event will take place."

"What are we going to do to stop them?" The question came from Frederick, one of the newer vampires created earlier this year. Harry suspected he had been a part of the army coven for about a month before he switched sides. "Obviously either outcome is bad. Besides, you wouldn't be telling us any of this if you weren't planning on doing something about it." Harry nodded to where he sat on the couch.

"Right. That is one of the reasons why Malfoy will be staying with us. Since we cannot expect any significant help from the ministry due to the need for me to keep a low profile, we are lucky to have another wizard with as much experience and power in dealing with dark magic and dark creatures on our side. I hope that he will help me in teaching those of you who are able to use magic how to duel," Harry looked over at Draco, who nodded his head in acceptance. The brief second of eye contact however, pulled at Harry and if it wasn't for the silent stinging hex Draco sent his way, he would have been unable to continue his speech. He sent Malfoy a quick mental _Thanks,_ to which he received a silent acknowledgement. If anyone noticed the silent exchange, they didn't acknowledge it. "For those of you who cannot control magic, you will be practicing manual combat, primarily with Chloe, but I will assist as well. I will work with all of you individually who have focused talents to help develop them.

"For the moment, we do not have any idea as to what they are planning, so the best we can do is be prepared for anything. Hopefully, we will have some warning as to what to expect." Harry proceeded to tell them what they had guessed about the structure, and then they all began to discuss tactics and what each person would contribute. It was midday by the time Harry called a halt to their discussion.

"Alright everyone, that's enough for now. Stay out of trouble. I have to head down to London to turn in the photographs from my last hunting trip. Chloe's in charge while I'm gone." Everyone muttered their assent and they all began to disperse.

Satisfied that everything was still under control, he transformed and flew up to his room on the third floor. Human once again, Harry strode into his room and looked around. It was small and tidy, and looked more like a study as the largest piece of furniture was the desk underneath the window on the right wall. Since he didn't often need sleep anymore, his bed was actually a large sofa near the door. On the opposite wall was a door that was partially concealed by a large banner displaying the Potter family crest. Through the door was his studio. Unlike the bedroom, the studio was cluttered. Photographs and newspaper articles covered the walls, a series of bookshelves were filled with mismatched albums with handwritten labels detailing the dates of each trip and where they were taken. Empty clotheslines crisscrossed the ceiling, and clothing, luggage and scraps of paper littered the floor.

Harry strode across the studio to pick up a folder on one of the tables. He flicked it open to check the final layout one more time as he walked back out into the hallway. Satisfied that everything was in the correct place, Harry snapped the folder shut and looked up into the waiting face of Draco Malfoy.

"Do watch where you are going Potter" Malfoy sneered at him, but the sound had lost all of its bite. Harry shook his head to clear it.

"I wasn't going to run into you Malfoy" Harry smiled and tapped his forehead. "I have a built in GPS remember?"

"What in the world is a GPS, Potter?"

"Right, sorry. It's muggle technology used to tell directions. But the point I was trying to make was, in this house I always keep my legillimency up to monitor everyone in the coven, so I always know where everyone is at." Harry started to move past Malfoy towards the stairs. "Sorry, but I really need to get to London."

Malfoy followed him down the stairs. "And everyone here is okay with you intruding on their minds like that?"

"Yeah, it's one of the conditions that I give them when they agree to join us. They all know that it's necessary, especially in a group this size with so many vampires that do not always have the best control over their emotions or behaviors. I also teach all of them occulomency so that they are able to shield some of their thoughts when they need to, but most of them choose not to use it. Besides, it makes communication much easier, especially useful since so many of us spend our time transformed."

"That certainly makes the disjointed conversations at the meeting make more sense."

"You didn't miss anything I hope."

"Fortunately, I did not. You were very thorough at incorporating the silent questions into the discussion."

"Oh, yeah. Right, well that's good." Harry didn't remember verbally clarifying anything, since he usually didn't have too. Privately, he wondered if it was his subconscious responding to the Claim. "I'm assuming that since you followed me out past the wards of the property, that you are planning on accompanying me to London."

"Unless you could produce a serious objection."

"Very well then, take my arm." Harry offered it to Malfoy who gripped his elbow. As Harry spun into the darkness, he couldn't help but marvel at the fact that it had been less than 24 hours and already his head was clearer around Malfoy. He hated it when Chloe was right.

* * *

AN: I know several of you would like to see more of Ron. We'll get to him, I promise, just not yet. Have patience my dears.


	6. May 11th 2008

May 11th, 2008

Harry was used to the wait before his stories ran in the Daily Prophet, so he had spent every moment of the last two days training the members of his coven alongside Draco and Chloe. They had only begun to use each other's first names after Chloe had had a fit about respect and setting an example for the newborns. They were still getting used to it and would slip up frequently.

Everyone took turns sparring with Chloe and those that had magical ability would duel Draco. Draco, who was used to dueling opponents who used wands, was surprised at how many of the newborns preferred wandless magic. It was only Harry's frequent appearances among humans that kept him in the habit of using his wand, even though he felt it limited his ability.

There were few members of the coven that had inherited any sort of extra abilities. They were maybe a dozen, and most of those were simply precise control over specific branches of magic and could be practiced on their own while dueling, so Harry had spent his time working with Frederick, Derek and Cristina. Both Derek's and Cristina's gifts could be practiced individually but needed some direction as they were muggle born. When she wasn't sparring or dueling, Cristina would wander the surrounding hillsides searching for plants and their seeds and bringing them back to Harry where she would identify them and encourage them to grow. Derek, who had been gifted with prophecy, would wander the yard with Harry, watching the sparring matches of everyone around them and predict who out of each pair would win. Harry wanted to find something a little more challenging, but he had no idea what. He had considered buying him several divination books, but Derek read so infrequently that Harry was pretty sure they would go unused.

At the moment, Harry was shielding his mind from Frederick who was attempting to break through his defenses using legillimency. Typically, Frederick used hard and forceful attacks, but Harry hadn't felt anything against his defenses yet. He was still waiting for some sign of attack from Frederick when his memories of his meeting with Hermione and Kingsley were flashing before his eyes.

 _That explains a lot about you and Draco, boss._ Harry gasped and his eyes shot open at hearing Frederick's voice inside his defenses. Ten feet away, he saw Frederick grin. _Relax Harry. I'm not going to tell anyone. It'll be fun to watch Draco as he figures it out. Besides, we've got a battle coming don't we, boss?_

"How did you do that? I didn't even feel you around my guards." Harry was impressed.

"I'm not entirely sure. It was something I noticed earlier in both yours and Draco's shields. They seem to fluctuate, ripple almost like waves. It's incredibly subtle, so this time I decided to watch and see what it was. After a while, I noticed that there seemed to be miniscule gaps between the waves, so I pinpointed my attack at one of the gaps and I slipped right through. I don't think it's a weakness though," Frederick said upon seeing the look on Harry's face. "More like it's just the nature of the mind. Thoughts are fluid, it makes sense their defenses would be too."

"I guess that makes sense." Harry frowned, he still didn't like how easily Frederick had managed it. "I want you to try it with some of the others to make sure it works the same way on everyone and to see if you can do it faster." _Draco?_

 _Yes?_

 _I could use your help for a few minutes._ Harry briefly explained what had just happened.

 _I'll be right there._

Draco arrived at where they were practicing under a large ash tree at exactly the same moment Harry spotted the large barn owl. He recognized it as the one from the Daily Prophet that would bring him a copy of the paper when his photos were published. Turning towards Frederick and Draco, he gave them instructions and set them to work before the bird reached him. Once the owl had landed on his shoulder, Harry made his way back to the house where he kept the owl treats.

Tossing several treats on the table, Harry untied the paper and made to open it, pausing only when a scrap of parchment fell to the floor.

 _Harry,_

 _I wanted to let you know before you saw it, apparently your trip into town with Malfoy caught the eye of a few journalists and they have run away with it in a manner that would have made Rita proud. I've done everything I could to keep them out of the Prophet, unfortunately I can't exclude every single article that mentions the two of you. Nor can I control what other publications print. The only thing I am able to do is promote your work as much as I can, not that it needs much help._

 _I know you just turned one in, but would you be able to get another couple photo series together? Hopefully, multiple presentations will take their focus off of the gossip columns for a while._

 _Best,_

 _B. Cuffe_

Harry was glad that he stopped to read the letter first. Normally he just looked for his photos and any corresponding articles, but this time he saved them for last and looked through the paper for the mentions of him and Draco that Cuffe had mentioned. Thankfully, the most scandalous thing printed was a suggestions that Harry seemed to move through his partners rather quickly since the death of Ginny. Harry just laughed. Compared to how Ron portrayed himself since her death, the numbers of Harry's perceived partners were considerably normal. There was also a brief mention of Draco's past, which reminded Harry that there were other articles elsewhere that would most likely expand the theme. But he wasn't too worried. He would hear about it from Hermione. In the meantime, he turned his focus to following Cuffe's advice. He had been toying with the idea of doing a shoot exclusively on dragons, but he still didn't know what else he could do. Rather than worry about it, he turned to firecall Charlie.

"We should be thankful the Dark Lord didn't have anybody like Fredrick." Draco's voice interrupted Harry as he reached for the mantle. He turned to where Draco was standing in the kitchen. "His ability to break through occulumency shields without you noticing is terrifying. Where are you going?"

"I'm not going anywhere yet. I was about to firecall Charlie Weasley to set up a trip to photograph some of his dragons."

"Why would you do that? Don't we have a big battle to train for? You can't just leave, because that would mean that I would have to go with you as well, otherwise we are going to have to start all over with the stinging hexes."

"I..." Harry paused. "I hadn't thought about that actually. Not about the battle, Chloe is capable of supervising their training, but that you would need to come with me. Although that makes everything more complicated. My editor at the prophet wants me to turn in several mini-series in the next week or so to try and take some of the publicity off of your accompanying me to Diagon Alley."

"And clearly, your publicity means more to you than your coven." Draco crossed his arms and fixed a disapproving glare on Harry. It crossed Harry's mind that he hadn't been thinking about his own publicity at all, but about Draco's instead. He wondered at the protective instinct he felt, it was much more focused than what he felt towards the newborns under his care. He knew that the newborns were sufficiently capable of protecting themselves, but he also knew that about Draco.

Draco's stinging hex hit him the same instant that ralph apparated right in front of him, knocking him off balance. He transformed into a bat to prevent himself from falling into the fireplace. As he did so, he saw that Ralph was covered in numerous cuts and patches of reddened skin where he had been burned.

"Harry, we've got a problem. She knows what you are." Ralph focused immediately on Harry, completely ignoring Draco.

"What do you mean _she_? I thought we didn't know who is behind this."

"We didn't, you still weren't supposed to know because I wasn't supposed to escape. My guess is she knew you were involved before my last check in with you, which is what gave me away. The new vampire she has in her pocket brought me to an audience with her as soon as I got back. The moment I saw her, she launched into a rant about how you always were a nasty little attention seeker and that it doesn't surprise her that you became a dark creature because it allows you to take out those who disagree with you, but you can't count on anyone to cover for you this time because no wizard in their right mind is going to support a life leaching vampire over her, a pure-blood witch who has been assaulted several times by a variety of human like creatures such as centaurs and half-giants."

At this last, Harry looked up toward Draco with a look of pure horror on his face, his fist clenching in reflex at the memory, making the remaining white of his scars stand out against his pale skin. He could tell that Draco hadn't made the same connection he had, as he hadn't been in the forest with him and Hermione when she had been attacked by the centaurs. Unable to say the name out loud, Harry sent a mental picture of Dolores Umbridge to Draco. Understanding crossed his face, followed by a brief flash of guilt before being replaced with a horrified expression similar to the one Harry still wore.

"Keep…" Harry cleared his throat. "Keep going Ralph, we need to know what she's planning. Did she say anything else during your meeting with her?"

"Not anything of significance, other than it taking longer than it was supposed to in order to get everyone organized. It sounded like it's going to look like random attacks, but I have no way of knowing who the targets are. She's got a partner though. A human partner I mean. He was the one in charge of keeping me captive. He never said much, very careful about everything. I can tell you what he looked like though. He looked like…" Ralph trailed off as he noticed Draco for the first time. "He looked a lot like you, only his hair was longer and he carried a cane."

"Did the cane have a dragon's head on it?" Draco fixed Ralph with a cold stare.

"I think so. He tried to keep it away, but that's what it looked like."

"Make the fire call Harry. I find the need to have a conversation with my mother as well."

Harry nodded and turned to Ralph.

"Get Chloe to look at you and then take a rest. Once you're healed, the two of you can start combing through everything we know so far. Talk to some of the converted members if you need to, but try to keep it quiet. By escaping, you've probably bought us some time but I want to be prepared. Draco and I need to go abroad for a few days, a week at most. You know how to find me if we're needed."

"Got it." He nodded once, and headed for the stairs. Harry grabbed the Floo Powder and threw it into the fire.

"Charlie, I need a favor."

* * *

AN: Sorry for the delay in updates my dears. University has gotten in the way once again. For those of you who have wanted to see Ron, I promise he will be in the next chapter, although I can't promise when it will be up. My goal is by the end of November.

Thank you all for reading. 3


	7. May 11th Continued

May 11th Continued

Harry and Draco stumbled out of the Floo.

"Warn me next time before you drag me through the Floo to nowhere will you?"

"This isn't nowhere. It's Ron and Hermione's. You had to come through with me. They aren't technically connected to the network."

"There are too many problems with what you just said to even begin making sense of it."

"Harry? Who are you arguing with?" Ron's voice preceded him around the corner of the hall. He halted as soon as he saw Draco. "Oh. Um, I'm guessing you're looking for Hermione."

"If she's here. We need to talk to her before we leave town. We've got more information for her about a case."

"She'll be down in a few; she was in the shower when we heard the floo. She never mentioned any case you were helping her with."

"She's actually helping us. Chloe and I identified a threat on our end about a year ago and have been working to counter it. Hermione and Kingsley picked up on it last week and officially turned it over to me."

"I can buy that, but what's Malfoy doing with you?" Ron jerked his thumb over his shoulder to where Malfoy was examining the bookshelf.

"He found me out at the anniversary dinner. When he came to confront me and Hermione, we were discussing the case. After explaining it to him, he has agreed to be the human liaison."

"You left out the part where you don't understand social boundaries and continue to stare, with only the excuse of being entirely inattentive. Which I don't buy for a minute. Not now that you've got some sort of wistful expression on your face when you do it."

Both Ron and Harry turned to look at Draco before Ron turned back to Harry. Harry kept his eyes on Draco. Harry was thankful he was incapable of blushing without the aid of a glamour. It was only when Draco raised his wand that Harry looked away.

"She did mention that you had been a little off at the banquet."

"Yeah, that's why he's been staying with us. I can't take away time from training everyone, so Chloe convinced him that staying at the house with everyone would be best."

"Everyone? How many people are living with you? I thought it was just the three of you." Ron glanced between Harry and Draco looking perplexed.

"Somewhere around 25 now. Hello Hermione." Harry greeted her as she entered the room, and he went to give her a hug.

"Harry, Malfoy. I didn't know you were staying with the coven now." She held her hand out to Draco, who shook it and dropped it quickly.

"It was convenient."

"I'm sure it was. Now, what did the two of you need?"

"Ralph came home this morning with information that means Draco and I need to leave the country for a while. We'll be in France and Romania this next week. We finally found out who's behind it all, and you're not gonna like it."

"Hold on a minute. Can someone explain to me what is going on? All what?" Ron stepped into the middle of the room, confusion spreading across his features. "My best friend, my wife and apparently, Malfoy are all part of some inquisition that, from the look on Harry's face, is incredibly dangerous. Never mind that it clearly involves more vampires than I had any idea even existed."

"Wife?" Draco turned to Harry. "Now I'm as confused as Weasely."

"I'll explain it once we reach Charlie's." Harry waved at Draco to be quiet. "There's been an alarming increase in the number of vampires created in the last year, Ron. I've taken in as many as I have been able to find, but it looks like someone is using them to create an army. And now, we've identified who that someone is. It's Umbridge." Draco cleared his throat. "And apparently, Lucius as well."

"WHAT?"

"Not that old hag again." Hermione sighed and crossed her arms. Breathing slowly, she continued speaking. "Right, well at least now we know its personal to you. She wouldn't be involved with non-human beings without a reason, and given your history and continuing publicity since the accident, that makes you the most likely connection. The question is, why build an army to come after you?"

"It's a smear campaign." All eyes turned to Draco, who simply shrugged. "It's not a secret that she hates Harry, who has been a vampire for presumably several years now. It's likely that she's going to use the vampires at her disposal to increase public fear to match, or supersede, her own and then oust Harry and entirely discredit him, not unlike she did fifth year. Not being a part of the ministry, and able to influence it from the inside, she recruited my father to help her know where and when to target the ministry and wizarding population to achieve that same goal."

Silence hovered over the room. Ron was dumbstruck and Harry stared in awe. Hermione was the first to speak.

"That makes a lot of sense actually. I need to talk with Kingsley." She ran into the kitchen and grabbed her purse, kissed Ron and waved as she disappeared among the emerald flames of the floo.

"Why do none of you speak when using the floo? It's not supposed to work like that." Draco whined.

"This fireplace only has three connections. My place, the house Hermione and I share for the public, and Ron's. Only the three of us can get in, or bring others with us." Harry chuckled. "Ron, when she gets back will you let her know that she'll have to go through Chloe if she wants get ahold of me? It'll be faster than patronuses."

"Course mate. Though, she had that look again so it might be a couple days before she surfaces again."

"Hopefully it'll be sooner than that. Right, we've got to get going. We'll see you soon, yeah?"

"Cheers. Yeah, we're due for a game night. Let me know when you all get a free afternoon." Ron turned to head back upstairs while Harry and Draco made for the front door. "Oh, and Malfoy? Be good to Harry."

The door closed behind them.

"What was that supposed to mean?"

"I have no idea."


	8. May 12th 2008

AN: Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!

* * *

May 12th, 2008

They had decided to visit Narcissa Malfoy first. As Draco had pointed out, visiting her was more directly related to the rampaging coven being built by her husband and Umbridge than the dragons were. Harry didn't mind, it would give him more time to figure out what he was going to do for his other pieces. He figured he would have been bothered more if Lucius had been present. He and Narcissa had settled their differences not an hour after the war when he had publicly thanked her for saving his life in the forest. The public had come to their own conclusion about how she had done it. No one involved had wanted to admit that they had let Harry Potter sacrifice himself, seemingly unarmed, to the dark lord. Harry himself wanted to keep the fact that he had managed to survive the killing curse a second time as quiet as possible.

At the moment, the three of them were seated in the lounge enjoying afternoon tea. The lounge had two floor to ceiling glass walls, with accordion doors that opened onto a garden patio. Draco and Harry were sitting on opposite ends of the same couch, attempting to stay as far apart as the five feet of furniture would allow. Narcissa was sat facing them on a cream-colored ottoman. She had so far avoided any mention of their combined presence, sticking to topics about work and the current goings on in England.

"Have you started thinking about your next photo series Harry?"

"Draco and I are heading to Romania next to visit Charlie and his dragons. There's a Welsh there that I've been meaning to try." Harry said. He watched Narcissa smirk. Off to the side Draco shot him a worried glance.

 _Please tell me you are not going to try and drink a dragon's blood._ Harry thought he could hear a note of concern in Draco's question, and he smiled.

 _Concerned, are you? That's sweet._ Draco chose to scowl instead of reply.

"Well, do be careful Harry. Welsh have been known to be rather possessive."

"Of course, Narcissa. Do you by any chance have any ideas for future projects? I'm running short at the moment."

"I will have to think on it. Your perspective of the world is vastly different than mine, no doubt due to many of the life altering events that seem to follow you. What I may think of as photo journal worthy may not appear so through your lens." Narcissa reasoned.

"I'm sure I could make whatever you give me work. There is always a new way to think about something." Harry argued back, then cleared his throat. "Speaking of life altering events, would you mind keeping another secret for me? It has to do with our visit here."

Narcissa smiled.

"Of course."

"Several years ago I…" Harry began.

"Wait!" Draco interjected. "Why doesn't she have to agree to any secrecy spells? You and Granger put me through at least a dozen of them before telling me anything."

"Because Draco, she has already kept one for me for the last ten years." Harry turned to him and grinned. "Besides, you can't be controlled yet."

Harry paused only long enough to enjoy the look of sputtering indignation on Draco's face and the peals of laughter from Narcissa.

"I only had one spell that prevents you from telling anyone without my permission, or anyone that doesn't already know. It can be removed as soon as I decide that you are trustworthy enough." Harry sighed. "The spells from Hermione however, are only designed to prevent the ministry from looking bad if you do decide to share it with the public. Which will ultimately make the ministry look worse."

Draco rolled his eyes.

"Did the ministry learn nothing in the last fifteen years?"

"Boys, if we could return to the conversation at hand and save the bickering for later." Narcissa snapped, not unkindly.

"Of course. As I was saying, several years ago, I encountered a vampire. It was rather unexciting except for the fact that he turned me before disintegrating. My only theory is that he knew he couldn't survive and acted out of spite rather than any sort of logic. It took me killing Ginny after waking from a two-day coma to figure out what had happened.

"In the five years since then, I have adopted, for want of a better term, two companions that currently have no desire to abandon my direction, and in the last year or so a few dozen unregulated newborns. My companions and I have attempted to work them into a cohesive family type unit, but we learned that they had been created with an ulterior motive. Through a series of unfortunate encounters, Draco became involved, although given information that we learned yesterday it seems to have been a blessing in disguise." Harry had been talking on auto pilot, but he paused as he noticed the increasingly amused expression Narcissa wore. He glanced at Draco, who shrugged. He was as confused as Harry was.

"I had wondered if that's what it was. That is a marvelous variation of the vanishing charm that you are using. Ingenious really. You've done well managing to keep this secret for so long. Very few can."

"Well it certainly helps to be friends with the Minister and the head of the Department for Control and Regulation of Magical Creatures."

"That it does." Narcissa held out her hand palm up, in the typical way to ask for permission to share information through occlumency. "May I?"

Harry lowered his shields and touched his hand to hers. The first thing he noticed as she reached out to him was the slight musical tone to her mind. The second was the age, far reaching and ancient. Currents of power, deep and swirling, weaved throughout. Controllable, but only just. He could feel the centuries worth of knowledge hidden behind her own shields. There was only one species of magical being that had the potential to live that long without showing any effects of age, and he was one of them.

Harry started laughing uncontrollably. For the several minutes it took for Harry to start breathing normally, Draco continued to stare at him like he had gone mad.

"What in the name of Merlin was that all about?" Draco scowled at both of them. More so when he was ignored.

"That explains so much." Harry wheezed, shaking his head. "No wonder you were able to lie seamlessly to Voldemort's face. And he never knew?"

"He never suspected." Narcissa answered with a predatory smile. Noticing her son fuming, she sighed. "Relax Draco, you are not being kept out of the loop for long. I simply wanted to have some fun revealing myself to Harry. You would not have appreciated the theatrics of how I did it the same way, not being a vampire yourself."

"Do you mean to say Mother, that you are also one?" Narcissa nodded. Draco scowled. "For the last 28 years you have kept me in the dark. Please tell me that at least Father knew. Or did you lie to him as well?"

"Lucius knew from the beginning. The reason we never told you was because we were in the middle of one war or another and it was beneficial for me to keep myself hidden. The way you were as a child, that would have been the first thing you told anyone you met. The second war would have turned out much differently, possibly for the worse, if you had known. Be upset with me if you wish, but know that I do not regret not telling you. It would not have made any of our lives any easier, and you would have gained nothing that you do not currently have from knowing."

Draco visibly calmed. Telling him that he wouldn't have benefitted was a very calculated argument. Harry would have to talk with Narcissa and learn how to do that. It had only been a few days, but Harry knew that if Draco was going to stay around for very long, and he hoped he would, he could end up being a very difficult person to live with.

"Fine. I will not be upset with you." Draco said. "Although, this does make me more confused as to Father's actions. When was the last time you saw him?"

"Lucius denied me several months ago," Narcissa shrugged. "I haven't seen or spoken to him since. It is not our way to pursue one who has turned us away. We become ambivalent towards them at best."

Harry wondered if the last part was added for his benefit, or if she knew that he had unconsciously formed the beginning of a bond with Draco. More questions that would have to wait until later.

"Narcissa, did he ever give you any reasons for his denial? As Draco said, this is a little confusing now, since yesterday we found out that he is involved with the group responsible for the creation of these newborns. Especially since it seems as if the ultimate goal is to create terror and expose me, while condemning the entire species at the same time."

"He gave me the reasons I expected to hear. He was aging, I was not. He no longer wanted to deal with the secrecy that came with our relationship. He acknowledged that I would have to start over again soon if I wanted to avoid suspicion, and he wasn't comfortable with the idea of coming with me. Nothing in his behavior or his words to give me any indication that he would turn against us." Narcissa's eyes turned colder as she spoke, showing her indignation at having a partner turn against her and her species. Harry had to agree, maybe this wasn't as personal to him as they had originally thought. "If he is involved as you say he is, then as much as I would love to help, my involvement would have to be limited because he does know some of what I am capable of. But when you get to a point where you have direct contact with Lucius, let me know because I will thoroughly enjoy reminding him what happens you mess with vampires."


	9. May 12th Continued

AN: Soooo attempting to write and post to a schedule does not work, and I apologize for that. BUT here's two new chapters! And I am part way through another. Because school and SAD are a nightmare and make writing during the school year difficult, I will get as much work done during my summers as I can.

Also, I managed to rope my partner into editing for me, so if there's any typos left: blame him :D.

* * *

Harry gazed up at the moon, standing in the center of the paving stones that made up the focal point of the garden. There were four walkways that wandered off into the darkness, each a point of the compass. Surrounding the patio were blood red hedges that were black in the moonlight.

Once Harry had looked his fill of the moon, he brought his camera up and snapped a picture. He chose the path that led to the north, away from the house. After several minutes the hedges stopped and opened up to a large pond. The water was perfectly still, reflecting the half-moon as if in a mirror. Harry walked around until the curve of the moon was in front of him. Stopping, he levitated a small stone so that it lined up with the smooth edge of the reflection before releasing the spell and allowing it to drop into the water below. He had planned on taking photos of the ripples through the moon, but was more interested in the glint of silver he saw.

On a whim, he cast his patronus, willing it to stand where he had released the pebble so that it looked as if the stag was the source of the disturbance. He concentrated the magic flowing into the spell, making it appear a solid glowing silver instead of the wispy form it usually took. Satisfied, he took several photos before letting the stag go where it wanted.

Abandoning the surface of the water, it leapt upwards and cantered around in the sky. Harry lay on the ground taking pictures when he felt the animal was going to do something amusing. It wasn't very much longer before it was joined by another in the shape of a swan. He watched them chase each other for a while, camera snapping, before standing. When he did, his stag came back to earth and stood before him. The swan floated down and alighted between its antlers. Harry took one last picture before letting the magic dissipate, sending silver threads out from where the patronus had stood.

"I didn't want to disturb you, but I thought a second spell could help you find another topic for your journal." Narcissa's lilting voice sounded from behind him. He slowly turned towards her.

"You didn't disturb me, it was actually a very welcome addition. It was rather curious the way they interacted with each other."

"Not so much if you think about it. You and I are bound by trust, secrecy, war, and affection for my son." Harry felt himself blush at the last, but Narcissa ignored it. "Our souls play in ways that we dare not. As much as we wish it otherwise, we are both too well known to be ourselves and given the opportunity, the patronus will act upon that freedom."

"I've been meaning to ask, how does that work? Clearly you haven't stayed hidden throughout your life, and yet everyone has known you since you were young but no one was alive then."

"Our species is gifted with magic affecting the mind, although different forms will feel more natural to different people. That is why occlumency and legilimency come so easily to you now. For me, it was memory charms. I discovered early on that I can project an aura around me that alters the way others perceive me. As long as I have sufficiently transfigured my appearance, no one has ever questioned me."

Harry must have looked skeptical, because Narcissa just laughed and continued talking.

"There is still a lot for you to learn I imagine, since you are without a mentor. The ministry thinks that they can replace generations of experience and knowledge by assigning one of their own. But it simply cannot be done, even by one as intelligent as Ms. Granger. Or is it Weasley now?"

"It's complicated. I promised Draco I would help explain it to him when we had a chance to stop moving for a while, and I would like to only tell that part of the story once. Perhaps in the morning once he has woken, I will find the chance to tell it."

"Of course." Narcissa paused for a brief moment before she resumed what she had planned to say before they had gotten distracted. "If we all come out of this impending storm unscathed, I can teach you everything that there is to know about our lengthy existence. You have done surprisingly well on your own so far, even more so given your celebrity."

Harry slammed to a stop. Narcissa kept walking for a few paces before she realized that Harry was no longer with her. She turned to him with a brow raised in question.

"That," Harry paused before finding what he wanted to say. "That would be wonderful, thank you."

They continued walking in silence before Harry found the courage to break it again. There was so much that he wanted to know about himself, Narcissa, Draco, what they were likely to face, Draco, Lucius, how he could better help prepare his cohort, and Draco. He finally decided to start with the one everyone had been dancing around since it happened.

"How does claiming work? Chloe said that's what happened between Draco and I when we ran into each other at the Anniversary dinner. She didn't want him to get involved because he would be a bigger target once the fighting starts with Umbridge's horde of vampires, but that he's protected from everyone in our family."

"A claim is a choice. From both sides, although when it occurs between a vampire and a human, it must always come from the vampire first. You may not remember consciously making the choice with Draco, but you have also known each other for many years and it may have been buried for as long. Seeing him again will have pushed it to the forefront of your subconscious.

"His scent changed slightly once you made the initial claim, and it will change again once he reciprocates. As will yours. You both will take on aspects of the scent of the other. To vampires who are loyal to you, or weaker than you it will be a sign that this a person they should not hunt or allow to come to harm unless they wish to challenge you. To anyone else, it is a sign of your vulnerability. However, if you are facing most of what I suspect, it may not be as big of a disadvantage as Chloe thinks.

"Many of the vampires you will be facing will be younger and weaker than you, and will be hesitant to attack him. Any of the humans involved will not know the difference."

'Is that the only thing that can change our scent?" They had reached the back of the house, and Harry could see candle light flickering in the window to Draco's room. He reached out with his mind, and noticed immediately that Draco was fast asleep. Instead of disturbing him, he blew out the candle and followed Narcissa to the terrace where they continued their conversation.

"No. Any bond you form with anyone else will change it. Yours is already different than it was at the start of the evening, once you accepted my offer to be your mentor. There are many other ancients who will recognize my scent and that will also provide you with a modicum of protection. As it will protect Draco for being my child."

Harry thought for a moment. Her comment had reminded him of something, but he didn't know if it would be appropriate to ask or not. After all, it was something rather personal. But, he reasoned, vampires did have a different idea of what was considered personal. It wouldn't hurt to try.

"I do wonder about that." He spoke hesitantly. When Narcissa showed nothing but open consideration, he continued. "Draco was conceived and has grown and still changes as a human does, and yet you are unable to conceive yourself, if what I know about vampires is accurate."

"You are correct, I did not carry Draco myself." Harry shot her a questioning glance before smoothing his face again. "Lucius did."

Harry could not help but be surprised.

"It is a phenomenon that can only happen intentionally when magical beings are involved. It could not happen between two humans, wizard or no. Draco is half vampire, and as such would find pregnancy, or indeed the transition to vampire if he decides that is what he wants, much easier than yourself, or any other human male. Lucius did not fare well, and spent the last several weeks unconscious. I helped as much as I could, but even that could not entirely ease his suffering.

"As bad as Lucius had it however, it was still less dangerous than if I had carried him. The few times I have seen vampires conceive, they have always died. In those cases, the child is always entirely vampire and destroys the parent. It is not a pleasant thing to witness."

Harry sat back in silence and contemplated the moon as it started to set. Narcissa had said relatively little about the subject, but she had still left him with much to contemplate. Her warning to him rang in his ears. He still had the opportunity to have a family of his own, eventually, if he ever reached a point where he felt comfortable doing so. The thought was comforting, even though it was fraught with danger. He still had his friends, and the others back at the house, but it was not the same as having a true flesh and blood family. He had given up hope when he had realized what had happened to him five years ago.

He was barely aware of Narcissa standing to enter the house. His thoughts led him to consider the tone Narcissa used with him. It was soft and caring. At first he had attributed it to his being a vampire under her mentorship, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized that she had always taken that tone with him. Even when he was still human and at Hogwarts, she had treated him gently. The Narcissa that he thought he knew, that the world knew, was vastly different that who she was now. Perhaps they had the war to thank for that, or Lucius' view of the world, _but,_ Harry thought. _None of that matters now._

As the sun started to rise over the hill, Harry could hear Draco moving around upstairs. Standing, he went to join the others inside.


	10. May 13th 2008

May 13th, 2008

They sat around the table as Draco ate breakfast. For his part, Draco had gotten used to being the only one eating when he had stayed at Harry's house in the north of Britain. Both Harry and Narcissa were relieved that they didn't have to eat food that was now so bland to them, there was no value in pretending. Harry was starting to feel the need to hunt again, but he had already resolved to wait until they reached Romania. As far as he was aware, it was unclaimed territory and the muggles from the towns nearby never suspected anything when he was in the area.

"So Harry," Narcissa spoke, bringing him out of his mental salivation. "I'm curious. How did your transformation come about? The creation of a new vampire is intentional, and since you're not a part of the group created to disgrace you, I must assume that whoever made you either perished while you were still unconscious, or has gone rogue themselves."

"He no longer exists. He was so starved, that the energy of walking to the door of the attic in Grimmauld Place was too much. Halfway there, he started falling apart and he was barely able to bite me long enough to turn me before he was gone completely."

Since the incident, Harry had done as much research into vampires, especially how they were created, as he could. It took a prolonged bite of near a minute, with the intention to turn someone, for them to become a vampire. He had put Hermione to shame with the amount of information he was able to learn and discover on his own, not that she knew that. He had shared some of the important things with her, but many secrets he kept to himself. As much as he trusted her, she still worked for the Ministry and he didn't think that they needed to know how vampires really hunted or interacted with each other.

At the mention of the attic in Grimmauld Place, Narcissa started laughing, a bell like peal that echoed through the house. It was a while before she was able to control herself again.

"Then we share a greater bond than that of mentor and pupil." Harry noticed that she avoided mentioning the bond they shared through Draco. He guessed that she was leaving that to them to discuss among themselves. _Great._ "Leon was his name, and he was responsible for my creation and tutelage many centuries ago. He was difficult to get along with at the best of times, and about 250 years ago, we got into a greater argument than usual. This was around the time that vampires were being persecuted mercilessly by both wizards and muggles. He believed that we should save ourselves and go into hiding, while hunting those that wished to eradicate us. I thought that by hiding among the wizards, and pretending to be one of them, we would have a better chance at survival. I never hunted those in power if I could avoid it.

"As our disagreement grew, I knew that our time together had reached its end. Eventually, I over powered him and stripped him of his abilities. I left him trapped in the attic of the house we used as our primary haunt with a powerful memory charm, so that whoever encountered him would forget he was there and leave him to starve. I then sold the house to a young magical couple by the name of Black. Irony, or fate, later brought me in as part of that same family 50 years ago."

The entire time she had been speaking, Harry was listening with rapt attention while Draco stared open mouthed in disbelief, milk dripping off the spoon he had forgotten he had been eating from minutes before.

"Before I heard the prophecy about me in fifth year, I would have said it was only irony, but given everything that has happened since then, I am inclined to believe it was more the latter."

"You certainly have had an interesting run of it. Impressive really, considering you've only gotten more famous." Draco rolled his eyes as he joined in the conversation, giving up on finishing his breakfast. "Which reminds me. How have you, and everyone else involved, managed to keep your adoring public from finding out?"

"Being friends with the Minister and head of the Department for Control and Regulation of Magical Creatures definitely helps. I am technically listed on the registry, but not the portion that is available to the public. And I'm not the only one either. Throughout our history, there have been several prominent people who's creature status needed to be kept quiet from the public for one reason or another. And before you ask," Harry said just as Draco opened his mouth to ask a question. He quickly snapped it shut. "Hermione hasn't told me who else is on there. Only her and the acting Minister for Magic know. When they step down from their posts, they agree to have it wiped from their memory."

"Was there ever anything like that when you were head of the Aurors? It would be worrying if that kind of deception occurred in our law enforcement as well."

"I dunno, do I? It's been five years since I left the DMLE, anything I could have known would have been wiped ages ago."

Draco looked pensive as he took in everything Harry just told him. Finally, he got back to what he orginally wanted to know.

"What about your relationship with Granger and the Weasel?"

"Please don't call him that, Draco. We should be past all of that by this point." Harry glared at Draco, who just shrugged and waited for him to continue. Harry sighed before moving on, that was probably all he was going to get out of him. "Fine, just not to his face at least.

"Ron and Hermione had just gotten back from their honeymoon when I realized what had happened to me. It was not a fun conversation, having to tell my best friend that I had killed his sister."

Harry was staring at his hands, and in his peripherals, he could see both Narcissa and Draco flinch. If he was going to finish telling the story, he couldn't look at either of them. He hated reliving the first few months of his new life, when he had been so wracked with guilt Hermione had to spend three days talking him out of his self-imposed exile to an open field with no shade. The burns he had sustained were well deserved in his mind, he had refused to let them heal. It wasn't until Hermione had started leaving him goblets of her blood when he wasn't looking and was so weak that he couldn't control his basic instinct to drink, that he finally started to accept what he was.

It was this time that Hermione spent with him in that first month that had given Ron the idea for them to pretend that Hermione would leave him for Harry. So the two of them spent more time in public on their own, only joining Ron on the weekends or in the evenings. Hermione had even taken a months leave from work at the end of that first year for an 'extended vacation' with Harry after the very public and very staged falling out between Harry and Ron. Harry couldn't help but laugh as he remembered the looks of pure disbelief on those watching and Ron's inability to keep a straight face throughout their performance.

"I thought for sure he was going to blow the whole thing. But when the papers came out the next day saying that he seemed relieved he no longer had to live a double life, choosing between his wife and his mistress, we just ran with it." Harry finally looked up at the others. He saw Narcissa smile in approval. Draco was in disbelief and even, Harry was sure, a little impressed.

"While Hermione and I were gone, we spent most of the time learning all of the history of vampires we could, me more than her since I had more time. She still doesn't know half of what I do."

"As it should be," Narcissa cut in before letting him continue.

"We also found Chloe. She had been turned several years before by someone who quickly decided that he no longer wanted her. She followed him at a distance, learning what she could for a year before he was killed. I offered to take her in and teach her what I knew, and vice versa. Hermione wasn't thrilled with the idea, but went with it as long as she wouldn't interfere with our public story.

"That led to my finding of my current house, which has been expanded as the number of vampires I adopted grew, and the unexpected career of photojournalism. Chloe made herself my assistant, and when we found Ralph a year and a half ago and learned the first of what we were dealing with, my second in command. Since then, my photography and hunting trips have also turned into scouting trips where I follow up on reports of uncontrolled new vampires hunting throughout Europe. You already know the rest."

Silence followed as his audience reflected on his tale before they would offer up their thoughts on it. It was an interesting experience, Harry thought. Many of his friends would blurt out the first thing that came to mind, regardless of how it sounded. Narcissa seemed more inclined to sit back and let her son take control of the conversation. Undoubtedly, she would have more to say to Harry when they were on their own. Draco was deciding what he wanted to address first.

"Well, Weasley seems to be the brains behind this little charade of yours." Harry's heart lurched, and he scolded himself for getting excited. Draco's use of Ron's surname in place of one of his unflattering nicknames probably meant nothing. "And here I thought Granger was supposed to be the clever one."

"Hermione's really only good for books and rules. Ron has a talent for getting the media to believe his version of events. He knows what kind of things the public likes to hear and how to play off that. When we were auror partners, he was always the one to deal with reporters on our cases. Most people thought it was because I was still mad with them from school and the war, but truth is, he's just better at it."

Draco snorted.

"Saint Potter. Giving up the limelight just because his best mate is _better at it._ " Harry thought he should have been offended until he saw Draco smirk. "Next thing I know, you'll be telling me the sky is blue. Face it Harry, you're horrid at being famous. One of these days, you're going to have to learn how to talk to a reporter."

Draco roared with laughter at Harry's indignant expression. Harry resisted as long as he could before joining in. He didn't know if he was quite as bad as that, but it was a near thing. He got tongue tied whenever he spoke to reporters and interviews would usually end with them getting everything Harry told them exactly backwards.

Neither of them noticed Narcissa as she glided out of the room with a small smile playing across her face.


	11. May 14 2008

AN: I HAVE NOT ABANDONED YOU. My goal is to finish this story, and I will always come back to it. This day will be split into three chapters, and I am almost done with the third one. ENJOY!

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May 14th, 2008

Draco hated being side-alonged. Harry knew that, but there wasn't another way for them to get to the reserve where Charlie worked. There was a single point of entry via apparition, and only the keepers and their immediate family had access to it. Harry knew he was lucky to still be considered part of the Weasley family, especially since it made hunting easier. However, he still had to find a way to get Draco to agree to be side-alonged to a location that Harry couldn't tell him about. Again.

Narcissa hadn't been much help either, even once she had stopped laughing.

"He is a Malfoy. They are all set in their ways and will do what they want. Reasoning with them is a long, and sometimes painful, process," she said as she walked away.

Out of other ideas, Harry had packed their stuff while Draco was eating, and sent it to Romania ahead of them, and was now parading around the house in his Animagus form. If reasoning with Draco wouldn't work, he figured he might as well just get it over with and deal with the consequences when they came.

Neither of them heard him as he walked into the kitchen. Draco was seated at the island reading a book, facing away from the door, while Narcissa was standing at the sink on the other side, filling a vase of bright red flowers with water. Deciding to make himself known, he plodded up to where Draco was sitting and launched his front paws up onto the counter. Harry smiled at the exaggerated jump it elicited out of him. Narcissa only sighed.

"If you drool on my counters Harry, you will be the one cleaning it up," she threatened. Harry barked his agreement. "You look very much like Sirius."

You knew his Animagus? Harry asked, broadcasting his words for both of them.

"Of course. Everyone in the Black family became an Animagus once they came of age. None of them ever registered with the ministry however. It was a family tradition older than the law and they never thought that it should apply to them. Sirius had his own reasons for not registering, otherwise I'm sure he would have eventually."

Harry looked towards Draco, and tilted his head to the side, asking the question without words.

"Yes, I have an Animagus, and its registered with the French ministry. I'd rather not adhere to that part of the tradition. I have spent too long making up for my and my Father's role in the war to risk my freedom with an old family tradition." Draco grimaced at the mention of the war so Harry pushed off from the counter to rest his head on Draco's lap. He gave Harry a look of exasperation before returning to his newspaper. After a moment, he began to absentmindedly pet his head.

Narcissa, I am going to apparate us to Romania in about 30 seconds before Draco has time to figure out what I'm doing. I'm sure he would want to say good bye himself, but I would rather not give him time to think about being side-alonged. Harry spoke only to her.

"Good luck." Draco looked up from his paper, his hand stilling on Harry's head.

"For what Mother?"

Harry made the jump, leaving Narcissa alone in the kitchen with a soft pop.

They landed in the center of the small village that made up the homes of everyone who worked on the reserve. Harry had kept his feet, and he quickly bounded a short distance from Draco who was sprawled in the dirt. Draco quickly got to his feet.

"What the bloody hell was THAT, Potter? Why in the name of Merlin would you apparate us out of my mother's kitchen with no warning at all?" Harry stayed quiet while Draco ranted. He figured he could explain it better once he had calmed down. "Where even are we? What about our luggage? Where are you so I can hex you?"

Harry barked once to draw his attention towards him. The moment Draco drew his wand Harry shot off around the square, not giving him time to aim. Draco followed him, still shouting, more interested in catching Harry than the few people looking on from a nearby porch. It was only after a couple laps that their laughter was loud enough to distract him from his pursuit. He was hastily shoving his wand away when a flaming shock of hair made its way to the front of the small crowd.

"I should have known the two of you wouldn't show up without making a scene. Charlie Weasley," he introduced himself as he met Draco on the edge of the lawn. Harry trotted up and sat at Draco's side, with his tongue lolling. "Welcome to the dragon reserve. Harry tells me you've been helping him with both his work and his charges."

"I have, although it was not what I expected to be doing when I returned to Britain. Harry has a certain gift for getting me to do things I would never do normally." Harry's ears perked up at the small admittance from Draco. He let his tail wag for a couple of seconds, not caring if it hit the back of Draco's ankle, before controlling himself again. "I was under the impression that no one knew of his charges, as you call them."

"No one in Britain. Here, we operate under secrecy in regards to magical beings, so adding in however many vampires he's managed to collect up there wasn't much of a stretch. Besides, he seems to find the reserve as much of a sanctuary as the dragons do." Charlie paused and looked down at Harry. "Are you ever going to return to your normal form to give us a proper greeting?"

Harry barked sharply before standing and shaking out his coat in response. Charlie only sighed.

"Since you insist on avoiding humanity, you should know that Gin has been asking for you."

At this, Harry started bouncing around the courtyard again. After several seconds, he bolted across the yard and launched himself onto a low overhang on one of the porches. Once he reached the highest point on the roof, he collapsed onto his haunches and began to howl. The moment long song had a wilting melody to it, with sharp changes in pitch. As soon as it ended, he was up, pacing the rooftops while scanning the horizon. Several miles to the north, he saw a quick flash of fire, followed by a plume of smoke. Fixating on it, he leapt into the air, shifted into a bat and flew off into the distance.


	12. Draco POV

Draco POV

Draco tried to fight the pang of jealousy as he watched Harry disappear over the rooftops. The only reason he had agreed to go on this venture in the first place was because he was worried about what would happen to his focus if he had stayed away. They couldn't afford to have him distracted if they were expected to fight after being apart. Harry wasn't his to be jealous of, so why did it hurt that he didn't even say goodbye?

"Come on inside Draco, and I'll pour you a drink." Charlie waved him over, effectively pulling him out of his musings. "Harry could be a couple of hours, and it's best to stop misery before it can even find its hold."

"It is much too early in the day for alcohol," Draco said, with more bite in his words than he meant. As an afterthought, he added: "And I am not miserable."

"Suit yourself." Charlie chuckled and headed for the building they had been gathered in front of. At a loss for anything else to do, Draco followed him inside.

Everything was minimalistic. Plain tables and chairs were scattered about the room in piles of three or four. Paintings of dragons, of varying qualities, were tacked to the walls with the corners curling inwards and shadows peering from below. The walls themselves were made out of plain wood paneling that somehow remained intact. Draco could count at least a dozen places where the walls had been charred. To the left was a chimney with a roaring blue fire, despite the heat outside. And yet, the temperature was still comfortable.

Draco made his way to the bar at the back of the room that Charlie was currently crouched behind. He sat down just as Charlie stood, holding a glass filled with a burnt amber liquid that he then placed in front of Draco.

"Try not to take it too personally. Gin never asks for anyone by name unless she deems it incredibly important."

Draco stared at the drink offered to him. Just when he thought things were starting to make sense again, Potter would do something to completely throw him off track.

"I thought she had died before Harry found out he wasn't human anymore." He took a tentative swig of the drink to hide his confusion and growing disappointment.

"She did yes. However, the Gin I was referring to is one of the dragons on the reservation. My sister was her name sake, although that story is for Harry to tell."

Draco gulped at his drink, ignoring the thought that the Weasel had been right, and immediately choked at the intense burn of alcohol racing down his gullet.

"Merlin," he sputtered once he could breathe again. "Is that straight Firewhiskey?"

"Mostly, although I spiked it with dragon's blood."

"ARE YOU MAD?" Draco started digging through his cloak, looking to see if he still had any of his antidotes stored away. Charlie grabbed his wrist.

"Relax Draco, it's not going to kill you. We do it all the time, less than half a drop." Charlie shrugged at Draco's bewildered expression. "It's an old superstition that a daily dose of dragon blood can increase a wizard's resistance to fire. Since it hasn't killed anybody, none of us are willing to risk our necks by abandoning tradition. Some of the others also have their own beliefs for why they do it, but I don't really buy any of it."

At a loss for what else to do, Draco gingerly fingered his glass not wanting to get rid of it, but still not quite trusting that it wouldn't kill him.

"Has Harry tried it?" Draco didn't know why he cared, but he found himself asking anyways.

Charlie snorted. His voice was tight as he said "He drank it by the pint that first year. I don't know how long it took him to realize that it wasn't going to kill him."

Draco paled. He hoped that Charlie was talking about firewhiskey and not Harry trying to off himself by drowning in dragons blood. Somehow he really doubted it.

He finished his glass, and nudged it back across the bar. Charlie was just starting to refill it when a loud THUD reverberated across the room. Draco was the only one who flinched.

"What was that?"

 _THUD_

"Harry's on his way back."

 _THUD_

"I'm not an expert, but that doesn't exactly sound like Harry."

 _THUD THUD_

"You'll see what I mean. Let's get outside."

 _THUD_

Draco rose and took one last look around the bar and he crossed to the door. Only he and Charlie were showing the commotion any attention.

 _THUD THUD_

"You must mean a lot to him." Charlie said, holding the door open.

"How do you mean? We're just working together on the situation up," Draco tapered off. "Up north." He made himself finish the sentence, even if he wasn't entirely certain it had been audible to anyone but him. Across the sky, he could see a large, dark brown dragon racing towards them. It was impossible to tell for sure, but it appeared that it had something on its back. Like someone was riding it.

"You're joking."

"I usually leave that to my younger brothers."

"Of course he is. Of course Harry freaking Potter is riding a bloody dragon."


	13. Harry POV again

AN: Sorry this took longer than I thought. The boys didn't want to stop talking. Its up now, so enjoy.

What did you guys think of the Draco POV?

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Harry POV

Harry had felt bad for rushing off almost as soon as he left. But Gin didn't ask for visitors often. She was content to wait until he decided it was time to come back and say hello. Something had to have happened and he wanted to know what it was.

 _You smell different. I hope it is forever. I enjoy this new smell. It is happier._

Harry chuckled to himself. Dragons were so damn intuitive. He would have to ask Charlie when Gin had started asking after him. He wasn't sure if he wanted to be right or not, but it would certainly be a laugh if he was. To know that Gin could tell when something happened to him halfway across the world, even something as simple and subtle as bumping into a classmate for the first time in ten years.

"I hope it stays this way too. I don't know how to get him to agree though."

 _That is why we fly. So he can fly too._

"I still don't know how I feel about you chaperoning our first date."

 _I do not intrude. You tell our story. We all fly._

"Right," Harry scoffed. "Because you're not going to interrupt the story every five seconds to share your thoughts."

 _I behave for him. He is important._

"Gee, thanks. It's good to know I'm appreciated." Gin abruptly turned and flew on her side, nearly throwing Harry from her back.

 _Sarcasm bad. I do not know meaning._

"Sorry Gin. I forget sometimes that you don't understand the difference. I know you meant that he is important to me. Thank you for doing this." Harry stroked her neck gently, willing her to give in and right herself. His thighs were starting to get sore from gripping so tightly. Eventually she did.

 _I land now. In center of big boxes._

"Be careful of your talons. Charlie will have your horns if we tear everything up."

 _Let him try. I am too big to sleep now._

"You know they wouldn't stun you anymore. They are trying to move away from that. Even with the nestlings."

 _Good._

Gin landed in the courtyard and waited until Harry had dismounted before shaking herself to loosen the scales where he had been sitting. Harry looked over to the porch of the bar and saw Charlie and Draco waiting for him. He waved them over. Charlie sauntered over immediately, pulling Harry into a bruising hug, which he returned. Draco followed at a much more sedate pace.

"Draco, you may remember Gin. By sight anyways, you haven't actually met before. She did her best to kill me fourth year." Harry smirked, having caught the twitch of Draco's eyebrow indicating his hidden surprise.

"I," Draco started, then cleared his throat. "I can't say I'm surprised. You manage to make friends from the most likely sources."

"I do hope you are referring to yourself." Harry grinned. "Otherwise, we would have to reconsider taking you for a ride with us."

This time Draco didn't try to hide it. His eyes widened, and an involuntary smile crept onto his face.

"Don't you dare take that one back. I'm going, like it or not."

Harry laughed and clambered onto Gin's back.

"Get on behind me then." Harry waited until Draco was seated before continuing. "And you better hold on, we don't need you falling off."

"Hold on to what? There's no saddle."

"Me of course," Harry said with a grin. "I've had more practice keeping my balance, so I'm the most stable thing for you to hang on to. You're going to have to keep your arms around my waist."

"You couldn't have mentioned that earlier?" Draco muttered. Despite his protest, he hesitantly slid his arms around Harry, grasping his own elbows in an attempt to touch Harry as little as possible.

"Don't worry," Harry smirked. "I'll only bite when you ask nicely."

At that, Gin launched herself into the air, and Harry felt Draco's arms tighten in response.

 _Time to play game._ Gin spoke to both of them. _Yellow one asks questions. Friend answers._

"Charlie mentioned you could speak," Draco said. "How did you learn?"

 _Friend teach me to yell at him._

"Harry? Why would he do that?"

 _Ask Friend. He tell story. I fly us._

"Subtle Gin," Harry laughed. "I taught her how to say things that everyone was saying about me back in London, or what they would say if they found what I had turned into. That way I had someone to actually fight against.

"That's not the start of the story though. Essentially every hunting trip I have been on in the last five years, I come here. The locals have their own stories about me now." Harry let himself get lost in the memories responsible for the stories before shaking his head and continuing on. "Hermione wouldn't let me starve myself out in the sun, but I hadn't given up on finding a way out.

"I was wandering the reserve when I stumbled across her nest. She was just waking up. Apparently, I smelled similar enough to how I did during the Triwizard tournament that she was able to recognize me."

 _Not so anymore._

"I thought you promised not to interrupt?" Harry questioned laughingly.

She had waited about as long as he thought she would.

"What did he smell like then?" Draco asked.

 _Death. Stronger than first time._ Both Harry and Draco stiffened. He had never thought to ask her what he had smelled like before. Although, it made sense he supposed.

"What does he smell like now?" Draco continued, albeit more hesitantly.

 _Happier._

Harry hoped that Draco would put off questions about why until later.

"Does he still smell like death?" Harry didn't know why Draco was so interested in the way he smelled to a dragon. But, he admitted to himself, Gin's answers were interesting.

 _Yes. He died many times._

"What does she mean you've died many times?" Draco's voice had climbed an octave.

"I've survived the killing curse twice now," Harry said with a sigh. "I've been bitten by a basilisk, fallen from hundreds of feet in the air, and been unconscious in the hospital for so long everyone thought I was dead. And becoming a vampire counts as a death to many species, including wizards, although most will never admit it."

"I…" Started Draco, before cutting off. "Oh."

Harry let the silence drag on before continuing his story.

"Anyways, Gin attacked me. I don't know how long we fought, but I was angry with the world and was apparently muttering to myself the whole time. Both out loud and through legilimency. Eventually she knocked me out. I saw the blow coming and was grateful for it. It was the first time I had slept since the transformation, and when I came to many hours later, the sun was setting. Gin had somehow managed to move me against the mountain wall so that it was the first thing that I saw."

The trees below them were thinning out the further they climbed the mountain face. Harry could spot the cleared shelf with the cave hidden on the wall behind it. They still had a little while left before they reached it, but Harry smiled to himself anyways. He always felt as if he was coming home when he was here, and this time was no exception.

"Gin had kept guard over me, and when she saw that I was awake she started questioning me. It was hard at first though, because she'd never had to use words before. She spoke and thought in pictures. She was able to understand some English, simply due to constantly being around wizards, but she had never really paid attention to it."

Harry had gotten so lost in telling the story that he didn't notice Gin was landing until they were on the ground. Only years of practice kept Harry from jostling around. Draco didn't fare as well, his grip on Harry's waist constricting in an attempt to keep his balance. Harry let him slither down off of Gin's back first, before lightly leaping down behind him. He led Draco over to where a tree had been pulled down and shoved against the mountain wall, the worn down bark on the top the only clue as to the reason why. Sitting down, Harry leaned back and closed him eyes. He waited until he heard Draco sit beside him before continuing.

"She still won't tell me everything that I had said during that first fight, but there was something I said that changed her mind about me."

"Bloody Gryffindor," Harry heard Draco mutter under his breath. He smiled, it was nice to know that some things would never change, even if everything else had.

"Talking with my memories just as much as I was with words, I told her everything that had happened. She waited until I finished before she started asking questions. Well," Harry paused for a moment. "More questions anyways. This time she focused on Ginny. She wanted to know everything about her, while I just wanted to forget. It was infuriating." Harry sighed. It was several moments before he was able to continue. When he did, his voice was strained.

"Gin was the first word she said. At first, I thought she was just doing it to piss me off. While that may be part of it, it was mostly just because she related to her. Both Charlie and I see Ginny in her. I'm sure the rest of the Weaselys would too, but they never come down.

"Eventually I learned to be grateful for Gin. Being able to see the world, and myself, through a creature's eyes rather than a human's was unbelievable." Harry paused and thought to himself for a moment.

"Because of Hermione, I knew that I had different laws. I still have to follow those set out by the Ministry regarding Wizards if I want to continue to be a part of society, which, for the most part, I do. But I also needed to learn to stop thinking like a human. I needed to not let Ginny's death, or any of my hunting get to me, to accept that I am better at some forms of magic now, and worse at others.

"That's why Gin says I taught her to yell at me. She wanted to be able to use words to scold me every time I reacted like a human instead of a vampire."

"Isn't her learning to speak English the opposite of acting like a dragon?" Draco interrupted. Harry chuckled.

 _No._ Gin replied. _Is new skill. No different than humans with two tongues._

Draco thought about it for a moment before responding.

"I suppose that makes sense."

"Anyways, eventually I got over it, thanks to Gin. There's not much else to add to our story, other than she's become my best friend in this life. Even over Ron and Hermione, although don't tell them that."

Harry opened his eyes. The sun had crested over the mountain and was now angled directly at his face. He could feel its warmth, but his skin was beginning to prickle where it was exposed. He sighed, weighing his options. Either he could end their trip early and find shelter from the sunlight, or he could stay to show Draco the sunset, but have to leave to hunt once night fell. Draco must have picked up on his dilemma.

"Do we need to go back? You've been outside pretty much all day."

"We don't _need_ to," Harry said. "But if we stay too much longer, I will need to go down to the town to hunt tonight to make up for it."

"Would I be able to go with you?"

Harry whipped his head around towards Draco, eyes wide. Whatever response he had been expecting, it wasn't that.

"Sorry." Draco jumped in quickly. "I suppose it's probably safer if I don't."

Feeling slightly guilty for reacting, Harry spoke.

"You'd be perfectly safe if you wanted to come. I can't bite you without your permission. Its really up to you if you wanted to come with. I, uh," Harry swallowed. "It's just that I don't hunt in the way most people think I do."

"How do you hunt then? I want to make sure there aren't any surprises." Draco smirked as Harry became more flustered as he tried to speak.

"I uh, go to muggle night clubs. There's always someone I can, uh," Harry cleared his throat. "I can distract them with other things. Most of the time, they um, don't even notice I've bitten them."

Harry stared at where the sun was making its way towards the tree tops, avoiding Draco's reaction. Sunset wasn't too far off, and the itching of his face told Harry that he would have to hunt tonight, Draco or no Draco. The thought of Draco being there made him glad that he couldn't blush anymore.

"Eloquent," Draco laughed. "I'm sure this will be an interesting night. I get to see what kind of person gets the famous Harry Potter's rocks off. I bet she's ginger."

"You'd lose that bet," Harry said with a smile.

"Really?" Draco turned a looked at him. "She wouldn't be ginger? Then what would she be?"

Harry smirked and watched the sun kiss the tree tops. Bands of light waved out at them, turning the sky burnt orange and the trees below a turbulent sea of black. The first stars twinkled into existence just over their heads.

"I guess you'll have to wait and see."


End file.
